


A painter's world

by Light (gabbi73)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-04 13:00:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4138503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabbi73/pseuds/Light
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom looked at his silly house. It did not fit in beside the luxurious house that was making it hard to even locate his own. </p><p>How some people could have so much wealth, while others were barely making ends meet, was rather astonishing to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Greetings

Tom looked at his silly house. It did not fit in beside the luxurious house that was making it hard to even locate his own. How some people could have so much wealth, while others were barely making ends meet, was rather astonishing to him.

 

Yet, it had been cheap and with a beautiful shared garden. The garden was perhaps mostly the other house owners’ property, since it had not been included much in the pricing and it was way too big for him to even be able to pay for 5 % of it. It might even be that the last owner put it into the notice, just to get more money for the house. Looking at the size of it though, the rich people living in the house beside his, probably wouldn’t even notice him being there. 

 

All in all, it was the enormous garden that parted the two houses. And so, saying it lay right beside wasn’t completely true. But there were no other houses close by, though the heart of the city were about a 15 minute ride from here. 

 

Being of a poor standard, Tom found himself to be lucky to find a place like this. Sure, the houses could need a bit of work, but it felt far better to live here than in his hometown, which had felt like a prison for him. 

 

One might think of him as a rather unfortunate person. Since his parent’s had died when he was young and he had been in numerous foster homes, without much luck. It had always come down to the fact that the people he lived with only wanted support money for taking care of him, while he was more or less a slave for them. 

 

The only bright side of that was probably the fact that he had become rather good at house cleaning and dishwashing. Which could come in handy when one had to live by themselves. 

 

Tom opened the door to his new home for the first time, and immediately regretted it. Sure, he felt silly for buying a house without looking at it, his friends had told him that it was absurd and to never do something foolish like that. Still, Tom had been way to happy when locating a house that he could afford and being so close to the city, he had just bought it there and then. 

 

Now, the aftermath of that decision showed itself. It was terribly run-down and saying the seller had lied about the photos showing the house, was an understatement.  
Tom sighed. He had never been one with good luck hanging over him, so the disappointment didn’t go too far. 

 

“I’ll just have to clean up a bit and I’m sure it’ll look a lot better!” Tom said, trying to reassure himself that he hadn’t made a total fool of himself.

 

The day felt longer than usual. The house had been fairly empty, with only a half working kitchen and a couch that would become his bed for the time being. He hadn’t much with him as he moved in, but that wasn’t something to worry about. Once he got a job, he’d save enough money to buy a bed. 

 

Tom had scrubbed the floors and walls and about everything else in the house. Seeing it now, it looked a little better, at least compared to the way it looked before. But the fact that the house had been seen safe to live in was still a mystery. 

 

Yet, throughout his life, Tom knew that nothing would come out of him being disappointed or angry. So instead he settled for a cup of tea and one of the few books he had got as a present from his friends. 

 

As the day was nearing an end, Tom got the blanket and pillow from his worn out car and made the couch as comfy as possible, considering it was a century old and felt like it was creaking by every breath he took. 

 

Yet, after such a long day of cleaning and trying to salvage anything left in the house, it wasn’t hard for him to fall asleep. 

 

 

 

A loud thud and a sharp pain in the back, was the greeting Tom got the first morning in his new house. 

 

“Ah, fuck!” Tom managed to creep back up in the couch and sat there with tired defeat written over him. He was fairly sure that the couch would win in a competition of worst sleeping equipment. 

 

He got up and went to get some food. Though it was not much to look forward to. He had a bread, butter and some cheese as his only option.  
After the breakfast was done, he went to unpack his working stuff. Tom had been the artistic type since, well as long as he can remember, and being a painter was more or less his biggest dream. Therefore, his money had mostly gone to canvas and paint, while a small amount was used for gas to his car. 

 

He knew this wouldn’t last without him getting a job, so after packing out he got his car and drove into the city in search of any job that he could get. 

 

It was after five hours of trying and failing that Tom gave up for the day. He knew it wasn’t easy getting a job, but this was just too absurd. He had gone so many places, yet they all managed to find a reason not to hire him. Okay, so he didn’t own a suit and the overly run-down appearance probably gave them a good enough reason not to hire him, still he needed a job, or he’d be forced to give up the house and return back to his hometown, which were not an option for him. 

 

As he got back, he was not overly fond over the fact that he had just used precious gas only for a worthless drive to the city. 

 

He got his equipment and headed for the garden. Yes, it would probably mean trouble if the neighbours found him there, but at the moment he couldn’t care less. 

 

The garden was far more beautiful than he had imagined, if that was even possible.  
He unfolded his equipment and got his painting out. Seeing the flowers blooming from the trees and the colours that were spread over a layer of green was just amazing. 

 

He had been sitting there for almost an hour, immersed in his work.

 

“That’s so awesome! You are really talented!” 

 

The jump of surprise was inevitable, as Tom had not realised anyone getting closer and especially not that someone was suddenly standing right beside him. He had a habit of getting to caught up in it, whenever he was painting, but this was too much. It felt like the person beside him had deliberately sneaked up on him for the joy of it. 

 

“That’s-Thanks…” Tom said, after the scare had settled and he got a closer look at the person beside him.

It was a girl, who no doubt, was impressively beautiful. She had long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes and looked to be about his own age.

 

“Are you a famous painter by any chance?” She said with a big smile on her face, which only enhanced her beauty.

 

“N-no… It’s just a hobby” Tom said back, feeling a bit embarrassed at the attention he got. 

 

“That’s a serious hobby!” She said, and gave Tom a thoughtful look.

 

“Do you live close by? I’ve never met anyone here before, and I can’t remember any houses that are close to this”  
“I..um… Yeah, I live just on the other side of the garden” Tom was only hoping that she wouldn’t ask about his house, because it was not much pride to draw from it. 

 

“Really? Yeah, I fairly remember there to be another house here” 

 

“Oh! I should probably introduce myself!” The girl said while stretching her hand forward for a shake. 

 

“My name’s Jessica and I live in the house just over there-“ She pointed at the only other house around which were the luxurious house, that Tom could only ever dream seeing the inside of. “- with my brother”. She finished. 

 

“I’m Tom and I just moved in to the house beside yours” Tom said back as he shook her hand. 

 

“Oh, you’ve just moved in? Do you live together with anyone?”

 

“No, I’m living by myself” He would probably ask some of his friends to share, had it not been for the fact that the house was too ridiculous for any of them to want to live in and probably not big enough for it either. 

 

“That must be nice. Gosh, had I known there would be someone new moving in beside us, I would’ve come over and said hello earlier!” Jessica said apologetic. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, I just moved in yesterday and getting everything sorted out, took about the whole day” Tom smiled back. 

 

“Still, I feel sorry for not noticing, it’s just that I work a lot and have been out of town for the weekend too, so…” She trailed off.

 

“Don’t worry. I guess I’m sorry too, for using your garden”

 

“Though, as an ‘I’m-sorry’ gift, I hereby give you the right to be here in this garden as much as you want! You paint beautifully and I’m guessing this is a pretty nice place to get inspirations, so don’t worry about using it!”

 

“Thank you!” Tom smiled, she was truly a pleasant girl, and having her as a neighbour was probably the first luck he had ever had. 

 

Just then her phone vibrated and she gave it a quick look, before returning her eyes to Tom. 

 

“I’m sorry, but I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, Tom. I hope we’ll meet again soon. And if you ever need something we’re just around the corner” Jessica smiled and proceeded to elegantly walk back towards her house. 

 

What a beautiful person, with such an amazing personality! Tom couldn’t help feeling a bit struck by love. In his defence, she was pretty much a dream girl. 

 

The next day, Tom used no effort in getting into the city again. He needed a day to rise from his defeat the day before. 

 

And so it was back in the garden. He found an opening where a gorgeous looking fountain was showing off in the middle with a small stone-path circling around it and countless flowers decorating the grass. 

 

He had been painting for about two hours and was making the final touch, when once again someone decided to scare him. 

 

This time the voice was stronger, deeper, and more hostile than the day before. 

 

“What are you doing here?” The arrogance and annoyance one could hear in the voice made Tom flinch a bit as he quickly turned to the direction of the sound.


	2. Harassment and cookies

“Oh! Um…hi!” Tom had no idea why he was so nervous and sounded like he had done something he was not allowed to. But the guy in front of him could probably draw that side forth in anyone. 

 

He was tall, muscular, blond, blue eyed and remarkably alike Jessica. Their eyes were almost identical, however, compared to the kind and gentle look in Jessica’s eyes, this guy only showed anger, hostility and pure annoyance. 

 

“You know, this is called trespassing onto someone else’s property” Had it not been for the situation, Tom would be rather impressed at how low and dark the voice of the stranger was. 

 

But seeing as the guy could probably beat the shit out of him without even trying, which was the result of not eating much and having a fear of training, Tom did not ponder long on unnecessary things. 

 

“Yes, I’m sorry about that! It’s just that… I – I met with what I assume was your sister yesterday. And she told me I was allowed to use the garden” This was ridiculous. Tom had sworn he was going to start being tougher and not give in to every bully that came his way. Though being bullied was something he thought would end as he dropped out of school and especially when he was already 23 years old and already an adult. 

 

“I don’t care. I’m telling you not to come here. I don’t want people to think we just let anyone walk around as they please.” The guy was defiantly not pleased with having found a stranger getting comfortable on “his” property. 

 

“Oh, well… I…actually in the notice for my house the seller said that a small area of it was part of the house I bought”. Yes, making this guy angry was a bad idea, but Tom felt a bit betrayed over the fact that he had indeed paid more, because of the garden, and so just giving in was a bit harder than he had imagined.

 

“Well, had you actually been a little less naïve and idiotic, you would’ve done a little research only to find out that this garden is private and not shared between different owners.” 

 

This guy didn’t go easy on his words, and the worst part was the fact that he was probably right, and Tom had just managed to buy a house that the seller had most likely, as a joke, put out an notice on with a sum that did not match the house at all, only to hopefully lure in an idiot like him. 

 

“I guess that’s…a pretty good reason…I’m sorry” Tom mumbled and was more than just a little bit embarrassed as he gathered his stuff and awkwardly walked away muttering small, unheard apologies under his breath. 

 

“ God, that was embarrassing!” Tom sat with his back against the wall inside his small living room; trying to get over the awkward moment he had just been part of. At least he now knew whom to avoid from this day onwards. 

 

Later on he made himself some dinner, which still consisted mostly of bread and cheese and a cup of tea. 

 

Not long after he had settled back in the couch with his book ready, a knock was heard on the door. 

 

At first he just ignored it, probably in disbelief of the fact that someone would come visit him, and thinking it was only his imagination.   
But the knock came once more, louder this time, and Tom went for the door with a confused look. 

 

As the door was swung open, he at once regretted it. 

 

“Hi!” Jessica was standing outside with a big smile on her face. 

 

Tom felt happy seeing her, but the fact that she had to see him in this ridiculous house, which probably looked like a shed for someone of her status, was truly embarrassing for him. 

 

“Hi” He said awkwardly as he tried blocking as much of his entrance as possible, without looking like a moron. He had a hard time believing in the different personalities of the two siblings. 

 

“I went to the garden first, hoping to see you there, but since I couldn’t find you I decided to come over. I just wanted to give you a welcoming gift! Here” She handed Tom a homemade cake, which was unbelievable well made. He had to admit to the embarrassing fact that every time he saw a cake that was made so beautifully, he really wanted to learn how to do it himself. 

 

“Thank you! That’s really too kind of you” Tom smiled back, as he received the gift. 

 

“Well, I hope you feel at home here, and be prepared, cus I will insist on you having dinner with us in the near future” Jessica smiled brightly.

 

“I’ll look forward to it!” Tom lied, as the thought of having dinner with her sounded amazing, but the fact that her brother would most likely be there, was the downside to all of it. 

 

“Well then, I’ll be going now, take care-“ As Jessica was talking Tom’s bad luck had to show itself. Most of all was probably the surprise of it not showing itself before now.

 

Both looked wide-eyed at the door. The creaky thing had been a pain in the ass, but now it had gone too far, as it was lying on the ground having fallen off a mere second ago. 

 

“Well… That was not supposed to happen” Tom could feel the embarrassment coming back, as it had done far too often these days. 

 

“Haha! That really gave me a shock” Jessica laughed “Don’t worry though! My brother is great at heavy work like this! I’ll get him to come over and fix it at once!” She smiled. 

 

Tom smiled back with a grateful nod, before realising what she was saying.

 

“No! It’s fine! You don’t have to do that” Tom tried, without luck, to avoid the awkwardness that would follow.

 

“I insist! What are neighbours for, if not to help each other” Jessica said, halfway down the road. The tone in her voice was all Tom needed to know he wouldn’t manage to get out of this one. 

 

 

The sight Tom was met with as he walked over to where the door was supposed to be was not a joyful one. 

 

“You don’t take the hint when people tell you to bugger off, it seems” Tom was easily brushed past as the blond guy started to inspect the doorframe. 

 

“I tried telling Jessica that I didn’t need any help with this, but she insisted, so I…” Tom trailed off. This was ridiculous. Why did he have to put up with this arrogant guy, and on top of it, having to feel sorry for everything that he hadn’t even done. 

 

The guy started working without another word, while Tom was going around pretending to do something, while keeping an eye out in case he needed some help. 

 

The time it took to get the door working again was filled with tense silence, as only the sound of metal and tree working together was heard. 

 

“There, it’s done” Tom was quickly back at the entrance when he heard the guy getting ready to leave.

 

“Now please… Can you stop harassing me?” The guy said just as he was leaving. 

 

“I’m not-“ Trying to argue on it was futile, as the guy had obviously closed his ears for any more nonsense from this bothersome neighbour. 

 

Though Tom had a rather bad childhood, he still knew a decent amount of manners. And a couple of hours after his door had been fixed; he started feeling a bit bad for not having even said thank you. Not that the guy had let him, as he had scarcely thrown a rude comment behind him as he walked away. 

 

He figured he would go to his friend that lived pretty close by and maybe make something for him as a thank you gift. Guessing that was the best method, as he himself had been pretty happy when getting the cake from Jessica. Maybe, he’d even manage to put a closure to the already growing hatred the guy was having for him. 

 

 

“Hi! I just wanted to say thank you and-“

 

“Did I not ask you yesterday to stop harassing me already?” He looked far from as happy as Tom himself had done when Jessica did it for him, but being this grumpy about it was taking it to the next level. 

 

“W-what? I’m not harass-“ The last word was cut in half by the rather large “thud” as he was now explaining himself to a closed door. 

 

“Jerk…” Tom mumbled and barely managed to keep a hold of the plate of cookies as he turned and found Jessica standing right behind him. 

 

“Bloody hell!” The words left his mouth before he even managed to think them through. 

 

“Haha! Did I scare you? Sorry about that” Jessica grinned.

 

“I see you and my brother are getting along well” The grin widen as one could hear the irony in her words. 

 

“I just wanted to give him my thanks for helping to fix my door, but apparently I’m now stamped as someone whose harassing people”. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. He just got a hard time getting to know people. I’ll fix this, just go to your house and wait” Jessica said as she gave him a wink before disappearing behind the unnatural big door. 

 

Tom wanted to refuse, but the closed door did nothing else than telling him to just follow along Jessica’s plan. He went back with his poorly made cookies, at least for their standards, and did what he had been told. He waited, but for what? He couldn’t really be sure of what Jessica was thinking, hell, he barely knew any of them. 

 

 

“You never give up, do you?” The annoyance written in his eyes were the same as always, but Tom could swear that his voice had just gone down a pitch, if that was even possible, which was most likely created by his growing hatred for his new neighbour. 

 

“No, wait! This is not because of me, I-“ Tom was feeling stupidly desperate to prove that he wasn’t using all his time trying to make this guy’s life hard to live. 

 

The look in his eyes went darker, it made Tom wonder if those eyes could ever show happiness or kindness, though he did not have much belief in that. 

 

Even so, Tom could not fully blame the guy for being angry with him. Considering the circumstances. 

 

They were both sitting on the two chairs that Tom had managed to save as he was cleaning the house. On the abnormally small table in front of them was a plate with cookies on. 

 

The eating was done in dead silence. Tom thought it to be strange, cus even how bad it was at his foster homes, this was far worse. He couldn’t take the silence and hateful aura that was more or less flowing from this prince-like guy, who probably wished to be anywhere except from here. 

 

“So, this is how you live” The guy started doing what Tom hoped he wouldn’t which were to inspect the house more properly. 

 

“Yeah… It’s not that big-“ “Tell me about it” Tom choose to ignore the rude comment that was thrown at him so easily. 

 

“But at least I can call it home, so…” It was true that the house was shit, but at least it was his, and his alone. 

 

“Alright then. I’ve come over and tasted the cookies that you so desperately wanted me to, now I’m hoping that you’ll let me leave without further harassment” The guy said as he was heading for the door.

 

“Yeah, of course! I have to apologies for forcing you here. I didn’t mean-“

 

“Yeah, yeah. Now, your house is amusingly shabby and probably the poorest looking house I’ve ever been in, but I suppose it’s only a reflection of its owner. Though, the cookies were good” 

 

Tom had truly and utterly nothing to say. And neither did he have the chance as the guy was already out the door and gone in a second. 

 

The last words had been a ramble of insults, yet he had ended with a compliment, which left Tom standing there like a question mark.

 

Come to think of it, he didn’t even know the guy’s name. Yet, he had managed to piss him off more than once. Even for Tom, that was a record.


	3. Job offers and threats

Tom headed for the city again. 

He might not be the luckiest person, but his determination to never give up, gave him a chance to change that. 

He somehow managed (with the desperate promise that he would even do the worst jobs they had) to get himself enlisted in a company that had people for hire, to do housework mostly. Though it wasn’t much, it was a start. 

Cleaning houses or babysitting wasn’t really his idea of work, but when you had little, you did what was necessary. 

As he gave his almost empty resume, he was told that they would contact him when they got a job offer for him. 

He gave a grateful shake of the hand and was glad to at least have a chance now.

After heading back and starting dinner, Tom realised that the fridge was just an empty dark space with little to serve his growing hunger. 

He was halfway to the gas station, before the car gave in to the rough treatment it had gotten through the years. It was old and worn-out, but it was the cheapest car at the marked, which probably was the reason why Tom didn’t get all too sentimental as the car slowed down and he had to pull over to inspect it further. 

Upon opening the front, Tom realised that maybe knowing a bit more about the different parts of the car would’ve been a pretty clever thing to know. For at the moment, he couldn’t spot the problem at all. To him, the car seemed more or less normal. 

“Shit… What do I do now?” Tom mumbled to himself as he looked around.  
The street was more or less empty at sight. 

The quick thought of walking to the gas station was quickly disposed of. It was too far and he’d have to carry the bags all the way back. 

Why couldn’t it have happened at the gas station? At least there, he could’ve asked someone for help. 

Like a miracle, Tom suddenly heard the power of an engine closing in on him. 

He saw as the car came into view around the corner and if one wanted to compare the most wrecked car to the most expensive-high class car, this was the best comparison anyone could ever find. 

Still, as it came closer, Tom recognised the driver. 

The car stopped beside him and Tom was met with a bright smile.

“Having some trouble?” Jessica looked him over before eyeing the car behind him.

“More or less...” Tom answered a bit embarrassed that Jessica always had to see him whenever something of his was not functioning. 

“Hop-in, and I’ll give you a ride back” 

Tom gratefully accepted as he muttered a thank you while entering the car.

It looked far too expensive for him and he couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscious.

“So, did it go well yesterday? With my brother and all, that is…” 

“Yeah, it was pretty…. Okay” Tom said, not wanting to go into detail about the tense encounter yesterday. He knew that Jessica probably only did it out of kindness and so he didn’t want her to feel bad about it. 

“I’m just back from the city and I went into the house-help shop, cus I was considering hiring a house worker, and I just have to ask, is your full name Tom Hiddleston?” Jessica said casually and without noticing the small appearance of a blush on Tom’s face as he reluctantly had to answer. 

“Well… I’m kinda new around here, so I thought getting a job would be nice, but it’s not many to chose from…” Tom found himself trailing of in embarrassment. 

Fair enough, he had been pretty happy when they told him they would hire him, but he honestly had never thought about Jessica finding out about such a low class job (at least in her eyes). 

“That’s great! Cus you see, I’m not very much at home. Honestly I’m just at the house a couple of hours a day or less, and so no one does the cleaning and I figured I would need a house cleaner, but I have a hard time trusting people” Jessica said as they were nearing the small, run-down house that was made even more out of place by Jessica’s car.

“But! Since you’re our neighbour and I’ve got a pretty good vibe from you, I would be really happy if you would like to work for us. I promise I’ll pay you well and it’ll be really close to your house, so you won’t have to drive to get there” Jessica’s face showed that she was more than pleased with her idea, and Tom took a minute to consider it.

“Honestly, I’m not really great at house work though… But if you would let me try then I’ll do my best” Tom said back with a hint of a smile.

Sure, he knew what kind of devil resided in that house too, but he was in dire need of a job, and if he could spare gas money by not driving it would be a win-win for him. It was too good of an offer to turn down. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m just glad to have someone who I can trust doing it instead of a complete stranger” 

Tom felt a slight brush of happiness by her words. They hadn’t known each other that long, but the thought of her trusting him with such an expensive house… He could not remember the last time anyone had thought of him as something more than a bother. 

Maybe the few friends he had were the only ones who thought differently. 

“Then I’ll call the agency tomorrow and sort out everything!” Jessica smiled as she turned the car and drove the small distance to her house. 

Tom got inside, forgetting everything about not having gone to the store and being without any food at all. Finally, a job! He could be of some use, and get some payment.   
As he went to bed hungry, it did not bother him as much as it had earlier. And for all he knew, Jessica’s brother could be out of the house most of the day too. That would surely be a blessing, he thought as he drifter into a deep sleep. 

 

The next morning he had been doing pretty much nothing else than stare at his old used phone, that his best friend Kevin, had given him as he had gotten a new phone himself and probably felt a bit stressed if Tom went around without anything to reach him on. Though, it had been more or less useless as he more often than not, forgot it at home. 

But he was kinda anxious about whether or not Jessica would follow through with her promise of hiring him. 

The phone started vibrating and Tom picked it up as quickly as he could.  
“Hi, it’s Jessica! I’ve just sorted out everything with your agency and you’ll be working under me from now on. Thank you so much for saying yes, it’ll help me so much you have no idea!”

“Don’t say that! I’m really glad to finally have a job, so thank you for hiring me” Tom felt the joy spread over him, as he was now officially part of the working class.

“Would you mind coming over at around four O’clock today? I’ll show you around a bit and we can sort out what you’ll be doing”. 

“That sounds great! I’ll be there then” Tom said before giving a goodbye and closing the call.

He just stared at his phone for a while, as he was amazed over how quickly he had gotten a job. This was great! He would no longer have to go starving everyday, and honestly, without this job he would probably not be able to keep his house or car. This was good news indeed.

The sound of a car approaching made him snap out of his mobile-trance.   
He went to the window and peered out. It was none other than his own car that was slowly going to a halt outside his house. And of course, out of the car came the devil himself.

Tom quickly ducked down behind the wall and started thinking.

Had he asked him to do that? No? Then… Of course, Jessica…   
Tom was too embarrassed. How could Jessica just ask her brother to do that without consulting him first? 

This time, as Tom approached the door slowly, he was a bit too sure that he might get a beating or perhaps even worse. 

The knocking was strong and slow, and it almost made Tom have second thoughts about opening the door. Maybe he should just pretend like he wasn’t there? But where else would he then be. It’s not like he’d get anywhere without his car. And he couldn’t just do that when the guy outside had gone through the trouble of getting his car back. How he managed to get it going again was a completely different story that Tom would probably never get to know anyway.

“Hi…” It was pathetic how his self-esteem went from below average to zero whenever he faced the eyes of this successful-looking, doing much better than you in life, guy.

“That’s it!” 

Tom closed his eyes for a mere moment, expecting a decent punch somewhere, but had to open them as nothing came off it.

“You are the most, and then I truly mean the most, annoying, harassing, clingy person I’ve ever met! Will you just please! Bugger off somewhere else? I get that you’re trying to become friends with us, considering we are way above you in any aspect of life, but I’ve had enough of people who are only trying to live off of others, and you better do well in quitting with it now!” The guy said, before briskly walking away, being truly fed up with his annoying neighbour. 

Yeah, Tom was more or less horrified. The guy had, instead of raising his voice, lowering it to the point where it was beyond intimidation. 

Most surprisingly though, was the fact that no physical violence had been done to him. He was so sure that he would get a true beating and so he hadn’t prepared for the short, but well spoken threat that was thrown in his face. It made the hair on his arms stand up and realization dawned upon him.

 

‘Oh God…’ He thought as his earlier talk with Jessica had indeed resulted in him agreeing to the job and Jessica being overly grateful that he said yes. 

He was going to die, wasn’t he? He was actually going to die that very day.   
Tom felt dread spread over his features as he sat down on a chair, hoping to god that the house would just collapse upon him at this very instance. 

 

 

What was he going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been away for a while and haven't updated much (sorry about that).   
> Finally, I've written a third chapter and I hope you'll like it!
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	4. More than one personality

Standing outside the door of the grand mansion made something inside Tom’s stomach twist in an unpleasant way. 

He might have managed to avoid a beating earlier that day, but now…? Nothing seemed more certain at this point.

As he knocked on the door, Tom couldn’t believe that he chose a job over his life. Maybe he was indeed hung up on their wealth? Tom had never been the type to care much about such stuff, but he was more than desperate to get away from his foster family and if that meant a couple of beatings here and there… Well, he might just have to put up with it. 

“Hey! Just come right on in” Tom was relieved to see that it was Jessica who opened the door.

“And that’s about it” Jessica said, as she had given Tom a full house tour (well, beside Chris’s room, since it was apparently “off limits to anyone”).  
“You have quite a big house” Tom said, unable to hold back his amazement at just how big of a house some people could afford. Honestly, he couldn’t see why anyone would need such a big one, because it defiantly had more than one room which were not in-use or was just there to impress people. 

“Yeah, I guess it’s a bit big” Jessica had a thoughtful look on her face as she said it, almost like she had never thought about it before.

“I’ve showed you where everything is, but don’t worry! If you don’t remember something or are wondering about anything at all, don’t be afraid to ask me” 

“I’ll do my best then” Tom thought it to be a bit strange how he suddenly became a housekeeper for someone living this close to him. 

Still, he could see why they needed one. Jessica had told him that she used to do most of the housework, but after getting her new job she was barely home and made a lot of trips to other countries as well. It meant that no one really did anything at home. When Tom had asked about her brother she had just scoffed at him telling Tom that a miracle had to happen for that guy to ever start doing anything house related. Therefore, the house looked like a mess. Jessica had been hurdled up with so much work that cleaning the house was near impossible. 

 

“I’ll go get some small work done, if you’d like you can make dinner? It would help me a lot if you did, and we have about everything in the kitchen, so just feel free to do whatever”. Tom could see that Jessica was stressed out over her work, and to take away some of her burdens were something Tom would happily do. 

 

“Sure thing! I’ll mix something up for you guys” 

 

“Make it so that it’s enough for three, I’ll use my dinner deal now and therefore you’re not allowed to say no” Tom gave a nodding smile as Jessica started disappearing towards her workroom. 

 

As Tom took in the beautiful view of a filled up fridge, he couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit jealous of their ability to stock a whole store into their fridge. It had about everything that Tom’s fridge didn’t have. 

 

Tom had just finished setting the table, cleaning the kitchen and putting the food on the table when he heard the door open.

 

“It smells great in here. What’s for dinner?” The voice stopped speaking as it’s owner entered the dining room, seeing the stalker had made it into his house.

 

“That’s it, I’m calling the police!” 

 

“Wait, No please! I have a perfect explanation for this!” Tom managed to get hold of Chris’s hand just as he was about to pick up his phone.

 

“I don’t care about your explanations! You’re a fricking creep entering someone else’s house without permission thinking you can just do whatever you want! You’re sick!” 

 

“You’re getting everything wrong! Jessica-“

 

“Jessica can’t save you now! You’re done!” 

 

Yeah, threats from such a tall, muscular guy was hard to stand up against, considering Tom didn’t have much to bring to the table if they got in a fight. But it seemed like they were beyond words this time, and Tom’s life started passing slowly in front of his eyes. Was he seriously going to die, not having done a shit in his life? 

 

It seemed like it. 

 

“Oh, you’re home! Did it go well at the gym?” Jessica had entered the room a mere moment before Tom was sure his life would be over. Thank God!

 

The switch that happened at that point was both impressive and terrifying.

 

“Hey sis! Yeah, it went pretty well, got a new record on weight lifting” Chris said as he casually walking over to her, seemingly having forgotten about the situation at hand. 

 

“And how have you been? Working as usual I presume?” 

 

“Yeah… It’s a lot going on at the same time, and I’m seriously exhausted” Jessica said with a sigh, before turning to Tom with a smile “And guess what! I managed to find us the perfect housekeeper! It’ll make it ten times easier for me and this house won’t collapse because of tardiness”.

 

Tom stood there, frightened. Trying to have any form of eye contact with Chris was out of the question, as his change in personality had made the hairs on Tom’s back stand up. So he tried focusing as much as he could on Jessica or anything else in the house that he could lay his eyes on (it wasn’t that hard to find different things all around, considering the unbelievable big display of nothing to everything).

 

“And it’s this guy?” Tom managed to make a quick look at Chris as he pointed a finger towards him.

 

“Yup! Isn’t that cool? I mean, at first I didn’t want to have a housekeeper, cus I got a hard time trusting people, but Tom is already someone we know and he’s so lovable!” 

 

Tom was expecting anything at this point. A rude remark, laughter or yelling. Anything, anything but this. 

 

“That’s great. We really do need someone taking care of this mess, and if it’s a help to you then why not?” This was perhaps the very first time that Tom had seen Chris smile. And it was creeping him out. Really creeping him out.

 

“Right? I’m really glad I did this!” Jessica said before turning to Tom again “Are the dinner ready? It smells great” 

 

“Y-yeah… It’s on the table” Tom said with a gesture towards the elegant table, probably worth more than everything Tom owned, combined. 

 

The dinner was strange to Tom. Perhaps it was because he had never truly had a dinner where the harmony was pleasant. Chris and Jessica did most of the talking, as Tom still had to get over the shock from earlier. Even so, Jessica did often turn to Tom and ask different questions about his background and why he was so into painting and so on.

 

Strangely enough, was Chris rather calm and gave off an almost weird form of kindness and acknowledgement towards Tom, even complimenting his cooking skills. 

 

“This was great! It was so nice to not have to make dinner for once, and to still get it homemade. You really are good at cooking” Jessica said, proud of herself to have   
found a capable housekeeper. 

 

“I’ve still got a lot of work though, so if you’ll excuse me. I need to attend a couple of meetings in town. You could just do some cleaning, and you’ll be off at nine O’clock”

 

“Sure, I can do that” Tom said, feeling a bit better about having to be in the same house as Chris. 

 

It looked like all both Tom and Chris needed were to actually get to know each other a little. Now Chris seemed like a pretty nice guy. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as Tom had originally thought it to be. 

 

Jessica had left for work while Tom had cleaned the table and was about to clean one of the guest rooms that they had. 

 

After getting the needed washing tools, Tom turned around only to almost loose the filled up bucket with water and some kind of floor liquid (that he had gotten a strict order to use, as to not ruin the floor) as Chris was standing right behind him. 

 

“Jeez! I really got a scare there” Tom said, while making a small effort to laugh it off.

 

But Chris wasn’t laughing. Instead a familiar look of displeasure was plastered upon his face.

 

“Listen, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but you’ve obviously managed to woo my sister into thinking you’re worth even just a second of our time” 

 

“What…?” Tom just stood there dumbstruck. Was this seriously the same guy he had just had a nice dinner with? This was unbelievable.

 

“How can you, so openly, be such a money whore? You think you can just waltz into our home, befriend us, and then life off of our wealth? Poor people are the worst!” 

 

“I’m not trying to-“ Tom was cut short, as Chris made a step towards him, making him unconsciously take a step back.

 

“You’re rotten to the core, you know that? Now listen to me, you’ll go do your work for the day then you’ll go home get some rest and tomorrow you’ll tell my sister that you have to quit this job, you understand?” It was defiantly a threat, and quite a convincing one.

 

Tom was left standing in the hallway on his own as he watched Chris descending down the stairs. 

 

That guy was not kind in any way. He was scary, perhaps even dangerous. Honestly it was hard to even think of him as a good person, though Tom had at least played with the thought when they were having dinner.

 

That guy must really be schizophrenic, Tom thought as he made his way to the guest room. 

 

As he cleaned and the hours passed by, all he could think of was how someone was able to switch from one personality to another with such ease as Chris had done. To Tom that guy was seriously unpredictable and scary. Yet, he was alone in a house with him… That did nothing to ease the rising feeling of fright that dwelled inside Tom. 

 

Having used the last couple of hours cleaning the guest room (it had been truly ridiculous how dirty and messy it had been) Tom was finally done.

 

The clock had passed nine five minutes ago, and Tom was more than ready to go home, read a book and get to bed early. 

 

Before leaving the room and carefully going downstairs, Tom had made a serious thought out of whether or not he would be able to climb down the side of the house from the window. After having taken a look and seen that it was near impossible, he finally made the decision to go downstairs and head home. 

 

This was possibly the very first time that Tom had felt like a thief, the way he was sneaking around. Looking around every corner, praying that he wouldn’t be in for a surprise meeting with the devil residing there. 

 

Having luck on his side, he managed to get out of the house unnoticed and went full speed back to his house. Only after closing the door and locking it, could he let out the breath he had forgotten he was holding. 

 

Making a cup of tea, Tom sat down with a dusty book he had started reading. It helped calm his nerves a bit after the whole threat thing. He had been through a lot in his life, but being threaten with such sincerity was a new level of scary. 

 

As the clock passed eleven, Tom decided it was time to end the day. Though sleeping proved to be difficult, as he couldn’t get the words out of his head. 

 

 

Quitting…. Was he really going to do it?


	5. Never truly giving up

The next day Tom got a text from Jessica asking him if he could come over so they could discuss how his schedule should look like and how the pay would be.

 

Tom was still in conflict with his thoughts as he was unsure what he was going to do. 

 

Fortunately he was met by Jessica and led into the room, which was her study, without having to meet the other resident. 

 

“Is it okay for you to work early these days, and then you’ll work late the others? It’ll be a really loosely made schedule, so you can change it pretty much to your own liking. I mean, as long as you get the work done, I think it’s quite okay for you to be in charge of how you’ll do it. I’m just happy you’re even doing it!” Jessica said with a smile, not feeling the tension that Tom was so sure he must’ve been harbouring through his whole body. 

 

“And about the pay. How about you’ll get this much for now, and if you’re not satisfied with it, we can talk it out?”

 

It was strange for Tom to see so many numbers after each other, especially on a check made for him. It might just be a normal good salary for others, but for Tom it was quite a lot.

 

“That’s way too much! I’m just doing housework” Tom said, feeling like he was more or less stealing money from them if he accepted the offer. 

 

“I insist! It’s not really that much, and you’re doing me such a huge favour by doing this, so this is the least I can do” 

 

Tom looked it over again. Knowing by the tone of her voice that he wouldn’t be getting any way with his argument. 

 

“Just sign here, and it’ll be official” Jessica handed him the document which would give him his first stable, paying job. 

 

Yet, as he was about to write his name, he stopped.

 

The words of Chris filled his mind. He was supposed to quit this job, not making a legal agreement on taking it. 

 

The thought of Chris hearing about this, sent chills down Tom’s back. It was a pretty good chance that he wouldn’t survive this.

 

But on the other hand, this was his very first job offer. It was a well paying job, with great working conditions and he could even control his own work time. It was almost too good to be true. 

 

He would be nuts not to take it, anyone would. 

 

With this last thought Tom put the pencil to work as he slowly with elegance, wrote his name on the paper binding him to this house. 

 

Death was upon him, but he couldn’t back out. This was sorely needed in his life, and if it meant he had to fight for it, then so be it. 

 

“I guess you can just start from today then. I have to go to the office in town for a while, but I already feel so much better leaving home knowing you’ll take care of things here” 

 

“Yeah, don’t worry I’ll do some cleaning and dinner”

 

“Great! Oh, and it’ll just be the two of you for dinner, I’ll be getting back a bit later” 

 

“Sure…” That was something Tom hadn’t planned for. Who would want a dinner alone with the devil himself? It would surely be unpleasant.

 

“Well then. Having everything settled, I’ll be going” Jessica said as she led the both of them out from the study.

 

“Alright, have a nice day” Tom said with a smile. Jessica gave a nod and a smile back, before leaving the house.

 

Tom couldn’t help but feel a bit attracted to Jessica. She was the kind of dream girl anyone would want. She had wealth from her own hard work, beauty that no one could argue about and her personality was so bright and kind. 

 

He decided to do some cleaning before dinner. It was going to be hell, but what could he do? It was this job or no job, which pretty much gave him no choice.

 

“You’re still here?” A couple of hours in, and Tom had already started to get used to it, even humming a bit here and there as he did the cleaning. The voice that rung out though, made him stop and look up.

 

“Hi…” Tom knew how pathetic that sounded. Here he had been told loud and clear, that he was to never come close to this house again, and yet… here he was.

 

“Do I really have to send you to the hospital to get you out of here?” 

 

“I’m sorry for having troubled you so much over these past days, and I know you don’t want me here, but I really need this job. Perhaps you don’t understand it, cus you have money and all you need, but for me… This is something I really need to be able to survive.”

 

“Why don’t you pester some other rich people instead? I bet there’s someone out there who’d like to own a little sly pet like you, but I seriously don’t”

 

Tom was a bit amazed at how little this guy thought of him. Sure, he was poor, but it shouldn’t reduce him to a simple “pet” or “object”. 

 

“This is the only job I’ve been offered so far, if I don’t take it I’ll be turning down what might’ve been my only offer, and I’m sorry, but I can’t do that” 

 

“So persistent… What a bother you are” Chris said, walking closer to Tom.

 

It was just as scary every time, as anyone would be frightened by a freaking muscle man walking briskly towards them. Though Tom had basically nowhere to go, he was already close enough to the wall as it was.

 

With a quick move, Chris slammed his hand beside Tom’s head, making the latter jump and feel the hair on his skin rise, as his eyes closed.

 

“Do you really want to go up against me?” 

 

Yeah, Tom heard the threat in his voice, and it was indeed terrifying.

 

“You gotta stop believing I’m here to try and make trouble for you. I’m only doing house cleaning, that’s all!” Tom couldn’t even believe he said those words himself, as he hadn’t even felt them leave his mouth.

 

“Oh, yeah? So you’re not trying to win over my sister and then run off with her shit as if it was your own?” 

 

Tom just looked at him, confused. Had something happened earlier? Had someone actually done that to Jessica or something? It certainly did give Tom a feeling of that having happened, but thinking about other things in this situation wasn’t the wisest choice.

 

“I would never do such a thing! Jessica is such a kind person, who’s given me the chance of a lifetime to actually manage to make a living for myself, I would never do something to ruin that” 

 

With that Tom got one last look from Chris, which was hard to figure out.

 

Chris went out of the room with the same brisk steps as when he had entered. And Tom could finally breath out. 

 

In a way Tom felt like Chris might have had more against him than just the “stalker, makes me do all the work for him, scumbag” reason. 

 

 

As it became time for dinner, Tom had made up something for him and Chris. When everything was set and ready, Tom started to realize that at this point, he had to seek out the devil himself to tell him it was dinner.

 

As he walked up the stairs, he saw Chris looking through a bookshelf, without noticing someone getting closer. 

 

“Hi I’ve just-“ Tom was cut short of his sentence as he managed to literally trip over his own feet. A second later he was laying flat out on his stomach in front of his sworn enemy. 

 

Everything seemed to have stopped for a minute, as they were both taking in what had just happened. 

 

“Are you serious?” Chris said mocklingly, having for once switched out his ‘I’m willing to kill you’ aura, with a small sense of amusement. Apparently seeing his biggest annoyance in embarrassing pain on the floor, made the guy cheerful.

 

“Dinner…” Tom at last managed to say, with the beginning of a blush creeping up his chin, as Chris walked past him with absolutely no desire to help and only a small chuckle leaving his mouth.

 

'That bastard' Tom thought as he picked himself up and followed him downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeey....   
> I know I've been absent for a pretty good while now, and I'm sorry.  
> A lot is going on and so I don't have much time to just sit down and write. But I'll try, even if there might be a period of time inbetween the chapters, I'll try to my best to continue this one to the end. 
> 
> Hope you all like it and continue to read it. Comment's do help (believe it or not), cus it reminds me of the story and it gives me strenght to steal a bit of my precious time, and use it on this story instead, so do continue to comment!
> 
> Thank you all for reading, have a nice day/night.


	6. Party time

The days went by, as Tom did the cleaning work, while constantly trying to steer out of Chris’s way. It had become a bit easier these days, as the biggest cleaning was done, and now it was more or less just the task of making dinner, wash clothes, dust off the bookshelf’s and so on. 

 

Tom had finally been able to proudly pay his house rent, get some food in his fridge and a small set of new clothes. He had felt more and more refreshed as each day passed by.

 

It had all happened so suddenly. He had gone from being without a job, car and a shitty house with no food, to actually have some money to even spend on new clothes. Surely, most of the money at the moment went to the house rent.

 

One day Tom was in the Hemsworth’s kitchen. Jessica had insisted on them making a cake together as a celebration for Chris’s birthday, which was the next day.

 

“Just stir it around for a bit, and then we’ll combine it with the other ingredient’s afterwards.” Jessica said, having full control over the situation. Tom couldn’t help to admire how amazingly good she seemed to be at everything.

 

“Hey…Have my brother been acting a bit badly towards you or anything?” Jessica suddenly turned from the cheerful carelessness into a more serious tone.

 

“Well… It’s nothing like that, really…” Tom could feel that Jessica saw through his response. She was obviously observant enough to tell a lie from the truth.   
“I was a bit worried that would happen, if we got a new housekeeper” Tom just listened in silence. He didn’t want to start telling her all about Chris’s behaviour, as he knew it wouldn’t lead to anything good if Jessica went and confronted Chris.

 

“You see… We used to have a housekeeper before, and he seemed like such a good guy. But in the end, he made me fall in love with him… deeply… And then he took a part of my savings and went off with it, leaving me behind. It kind of left me in a depressed state, and I think Chris is really worried that something like that will happen again. He just want the best for me, and got really stressed out when I was in such a condition.” Jessica had almost completely stopped what she was doing, as she was just loosely stirring together the dough absentmindedly. 

 

“So, I hope you will forgive him for being so overprotective and seemingly rude too. Hopefully he’ll soon see that you’re not that kind of person.” 

 

“I’m glad you believe in me. And I’m really sorry to hear about what happened with the last housekeeper. I might not be rich, but I’ve never thought about stealing before. If anything, respect and trust is the last thing I’ll ever give up.” Tom said, keeping the serious tone. 

 

“I know” Jessica smiled brightly at him. The gloomy, seriousness that had fallen upon them started disappearing more and more, as Jessica picked up the speed and concentrated more on the dough.

 

“I believe everyone deserves a chance, and you’ve been nothing but good towards us, so I really do feel like I can trust you.” 

 

“You’re quite an amazing person, huh?” Tom said with a chuckle. 

 

“I certainly am!” Jessica said back with a big grin, making her look even more beautiful.

 

They continued their cake-making and Jessica offered to help clean up, as she had been more than involved when it came to throwing flour over the kitchen table, making Tom blend in with the white wall behind him. 

 

It felt like such a long time since Tom had hung out with someone like this and had so much fun. He wondered how it would’ve been if he had been Jessica’s boyfriend. Would they always have this much fun? Probably…

 

“Alright! Cake is done, which means we’re done too. Thank you for helping out. We made a pretty awesome cake, that I’m sure Chris will love.” 

 

“Just don’t tell him I’ve been part of it, or he’ll think I’ve poisoned it.” Tom said back in a half jokingly voice.

 

“Don’t worry, he’ll have no other choice than to start liking you. If people are really good at making food, which you are, he’ll soon be unable to resist it. That’s the way with him, lure him out with food!” Jessica and Tom both started laughing at the thought. 

 

“I’ll go get some work done now. Would you mind giving Chris his phone? He didn’t take it with him when he went out in the garden, but I told a friend to call him, so it’s best that he has it.” Jessica gave Tom an expensive (as always) looking phone and a quick “see you tomorrow” before disappearing into her office. 

 

‘Well, it’s better to just get it over with, so that I can go home’ Tom thought as he left the grand building with Chris’s phone. 

 

As Tom walked into the beautiful garden that he could ever dream of owning, he spotted a tall blonde looking over the small lake surrounded by flowers. It would indeed make for a great painting, well beside the fact that it was the devil itself, concealed as a beautiful human. It annoyed Tom a lot as he looked at the man standing there so beautifully. He couldn’t understand why someone so God-like would be in possession of such a hateful personality. Then again, he could understand the suspicion a bit more after having listened to Jessica’s story. He himself would’ve been perhaps just as furious had Jessica been his sister and someone had hurt her like that. 

After knowing why Chris viewed him in such a hateful way, Tom couldn’t help but wanting to show him that he was trustworthy. If there was anything Tom hated, it was being seen as someone people couldn’t rely on. He might be poor and had a rough up bringing, but he’d always been dependable towards his friends. The few he got.

 

“Hi…” Chris did not seem to have heard him, as he continued looking over the lake. 

 

“Your sister-“

 

“What?” Chris said and turned to face him.

 

Tom could hear the annoyance in Chris’s voice the moment he mentioned the guy’s sister.

 

“She asked me to give you your phone… Someone might call, she said” 

 

“Thanks...” Chris took the phone, quickly putting it away before looking back at the lake.

 

“It’s quite peaceful” Tom said, as he viewed the lake too, trying to not start a fight with the guy.

 

“Yeah...” Chris seemed absent as he answered, like he was too tired to throw in the usual threatening that Tom had started becoming… weirdly… used to. 

 

“Don’t stay outside too long, or you might catch a cold. I’ll be going now then” Tom said, as he turned to leave. Not entirely sure why he was concerned with the other man's wellbeing. 

 

Chris didn’t really seem to care for a goodbye, and just continued his lake watching.

 

As Tom got back to his house, he turned to see if Chris was still by the lake. At first it was too difficult to see, with the trees blocking his view. But after a while he saw the blonde going back to his house in a slow pace. He looked elegant, Tom thought. Although the guy was a lot taller and with a strong built, he was strangely graceful in his steps. 

 

After eating some food, Tom got out his painting tools and a canvas. To him, it felt amazing to be able to buy new equipment without having to sell half of the few things he owned. It had gotten a lot better after he had started working for the Hemsworth’s he had to admit. Be it that he worked for the devil, but compared to what he got from the job, he just had to see the bigger picture and keep on with his work there. 

As he started painting, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going for, until he realised that there was apparently a picture in his head, which was trying to show itself on the canvas. And without him fully knowing the little lake took form in the painting, followed by a man who viewed it so sincerely. Of course, that was impossible to tell, as the painting only showed the back of the person standing there, so impossible to reach.

 

The next day came as quickly as Tom had felt his eyes close the night before. He got up and managed to get a tiny amount of hot water before it turned cold and he was standing there, dreaming of the day where having hot water in the shower wouldn’t be something so above him. 

Before leaving the day before, Jessica had insisted on him joining in on the birthday party she was hosting for Chris. Tom had, of course, been resistant to the idea, and tried coming up with poor excuses until Jessica had crossed her arms and said, “I don’t care! At least show up for a little while, just stick your head in and see whether or not you feel like staying”. Tom hadn’t managed to find any better excuses, and had to settle on a weak “Alright…” before walking away in defeat. 

 

Half the day had already gone by with Tom trying to think of ways to say he suddenly got ill or had to help out a friend, anything to avoid the visit, while also pacing back and forth thinking that he of course needed a present… but what would that be? What would someone like him possibly give to some rich guy who seems to have about everything?

Tom turned to look at the painting he had made the day before. It had turned out rather good in his opinion. Having had some spare money to buy some new supplies really helped. The freshly new colours he had bought were a lot better than the old one’s he had used for, god knows how long. 

Tom studied it for a long while. Should he give that as a gift? Would that be a suitable gift, or would it be creepy that he had painted the guy? It could honestly go both ways, but knowing Chris he would probably hit the stalker button without hesitation. 

But then again… What else? The only thing Tom had even a tiny bit of confidence in was his painting skills. And didn’t rich guys always have a ton of paintings of themselves all over every wall? Tom remembered having seen that at TV, when he was younger. Then maybe this would actually be a suitable gift. 

 

As Tom knocked on the door of the mansion and a second later was standing face to face with some guy he’d never seen before, he felt like running back to his house would be what he should’ve done before knocking. The guy eyed him up and down. He was wearing what Tom could only assume to be ‘rich’, designer clothes and was styled pretty well. They contrasted each other rather well. 

 

“Who are you?” The guy asked as he leaned against the doorframe. He was well built, but a bit slimmer than Chris, and had what most girls would call a handsome face. He seemed to kind of radiate confidence and Tom would’ve had to be quite dumb to not feel intimidated by someone like him. 

 

“I’m… the house-… I’m Jessica’s friend” Tom said awkwardly. He didn’t know what the others might think of Jessica for inviting the housekeeper, so he thought going for ‘friend’ would look a bit more normal. Although it probably looked weird to someone like this guy to think that Jessica would have poor friends like Tom. 

 

“Oh… Then come on in” The guy said, as he took hold of Tom’s wrist and practically dragged him into the house. ‘Well, there goes my escape plan’ Tom thought before resigning to the idea that he would have to partake in the way too refined party.

 

“Tom!” Jessica who had already started drinking a while ago, it seemed, came walking over to him with a big grin covering up most of her flushed cheeks. 

 

“I’m so glad you came! I was afraid you wouldn’t show up for a second there” She was obviously not sober and had taken Tom into an iron hug, which she didn’t seem to let go of before the guy who had answered the door came over to help get Tom to safety.

 

“You’re gonna choke him to death, Jess” The guy laughed as he got Jessica to let go of Tom. 

 

“Shut up, Kevin” Jessica said in an amused voice as she went to get herself another beer.

 

“You alright?” Kevin asked Tom as he guided him towards the couch. 

 

“Yeah… Thanks” Tom said, politely accepting the drink Kevin offered him. 

 

They stayed talking for a while in the crowded living room. There were a lot of people and Tom hadn’t managed to find Chris yet. He figured the gift could wait a little longer. He wasn’t in a rush to get criticized on his only skill to be honest.

 

“So your name is Tom, huh? You seemed very close to Jessica, how long have you known her for?” Kevin asked, as he refilled Tom’s glass for…what was it? The third time… fourth?. It was some strong liquor, and Tom wasn’t exactly the best at holding his liquor. 

 

“Yeah, I’ve known her for a little while now” Tom said back, not mentioning why and how he had become friends with Jessica. 

 

The chat went on about different topics, and Tom could feel himself being more than a little affected by the alcohol. This Kevin guy, he was rather nice and had a lot of funny stories to tell about Chris, whom Tom found out, was his childhood friend. Tom assumed the guy probably was friendly and touchy with people in general, as he seemed to easily lay a hand on Tom’s shoulder, then arm and thigh. Tom wasn’t the type to keep much bodily contact with people to begin with, but he figured he didn’t want to seem rude or loose the only person who seemed to take any interest in him at this party, so he just let the ‘friendly’ touching continue. 

 

After a while, Tom excused himself to the bathroom, as he needed to get some control over the situation, as he started feeling a bit too woozy.

After having splashed his face with water and given himself a lecture in the mirror on not accepting anything more to drink, he excited the bathroom. Strangely having taken the painting with him, he decided to try to locate Chris and just get it over with. 

It didn’t take long though, as the moment Tom got out, he was pulled aside by someone who clearly wasn’t too happy at the moment, considering the force that was being used. 

 

“Come with me for a second” The harsh voice that was whispering beside Tom’s ear, made him shiver as he followed Chris away from the party, up the stairs and into Chris’s bedroom. 

 

“Um…” Tom couldn’t really understand what he might’ve done to make Chris want to leave the party just to talk to the person he considered too low for his standards. 

 

“What the hell was the deal with you and Kevin?” Chris sounded like he was suppressing anger as he spoke.

 

“Me and Kevin?... We were just talking” Tom said back, unsure why that would be an issue. Of course, Chris might not like the fact that Tom was talking to his childhood friends.

 

“Yeah right! So my sister wasn’t enough?! Now you have to go and try to seduce my friends too? You really are too much!”

 

Tom was dumbfounded… What in the world was Chris implying? When had Tom ever tried to ‘seduce’ his friends? That was ridiculous.

 

“First of, I’m not trying to ‘seduce’ your sister! I think she’s nice, and unlike you, she’s kind!” Tom could feel himself overstepping some boundaries as he was starting to raise his voice more and more. 

 

“And second, I’m not trying to ‘seduce’ your friends either! Why would I do that? You’re a freaking idiot!” This was bad. Tom knew he could start waving goodbye to his job at the mansion, and would soon go back to begging for his contractor to not throw him out of his tiny home. 

 

“Oh yeah?! Then what with you and Kevin having your hands all over each other? Don’t you think I would notice?? What? Are you gay now suddenly or do you just go both ways, and don’t care as long as you can steal people’s money and trust?!” Chris looked furious, and to be honest, Tom couldn’t quite understand why he would get this upset about a something like this. It was just too much.

 

“I’m not gay! And even if I was, why would that matter to you anyway?!”

 

“Because those are my friends and family that you’re messing with!” Their voices had risen quite a lot as the stood there, both infuriated with the other.   
“Then would it be better if it was you I liked?!” 

 

“I’d rather that than you trying to chat up my sister or childhood friend!” 

 

“Then freaking try to make me like you!” Uh oh, Tom knew he was digging his own grave somehow.

 

“Fine!” 

 

It took Tom quite a lot of time to process what was happening. Chris had swept forward and in a quick movement pulled him in for a kiss. It felt like it lasted forever. Warmth and softness, which was impossible to dislike Tom thought, and yet the kiss probably only lasted a split second before Chris quickly pulled away looking more than mortified.

 

They both just looked at each other, wide eyes and mirroring each other’s horrified looks. 

 

Then Chris was gone. He had quickly stomped past Tom and disappeared down the stairs. 

 

Tom just stood there in utter silence, the music from the party seeming far away compared to his heart beating in his ears. 

 

It took a couple more minutes for Tom to regain his composure enough to go down the stairs and quickly head for the door outside. He walked back home in silence. His thoughts were not   
cooperating with him, and he couldn’t make any sense of them. 

 

The event just replayed itself over and over again inside his head. 

 

What had just happened? Did it actually happen? Had he just imagined it? No… there’s no way. He… and… Chris… Had not just? Had they? But they were sworn enemies, and though the guy was more than just handsome, Tom had never thought about him in such a way before. 

 

It was all too much for Tom to process, and so he quickly got changed into his sleepwear, put the painting aside, as he hadn’t got the proper time to give it to Chris, and with everything that happened he didn’t know if he actually wanted Chris to see it. 

 

As Tom tried to close his eyes, he found it to be quite impossible with the kiss not wanting to disappear from his head any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy... I've been away from this story for a reaaally long time now.  
> Got a sudden urge to jump back into it and press out another chapter for you guys.  
> I can only apologize for the long wait, but I do hope you like it.
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading and please leave a comment :)


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